This invention relates to improvements in and relating to wheeled carriages. More specifically, it relates to novel semi-bogie-type wheel units carrying the carriage.
In the prior art, such a carriage is already known which is provided with several non-bogied pairs of metal wheels, each comprising tapered side portions adapted for establishing rolling point contact with inside upper edge corners of a pair of specifically designed rails having a rectangular or inverted channel cross-section, a flat central portion being however provided between the both tapered side portions and fitted rigidly with a raised solid rubber ring tire, so as to be rollable on a flat railless floor. Although it is convenient to support each wheel of the two wheel units of front, intermediate and rear wheel units by a separate and independent axle. However, if desired, each lateral two pairs of the wheel units may be supported by a single and common axle. It should be noted that the term "front", "intermediate" or "rear" is used only for convenience of description, because the carriage is runnable to-and-fro on the rails as well as the railless floor.
This kind of carriage, which has four contact point type wheel treads when seen in one lateral axle line, on line is usable for various purposes. As an example, a staged lecture hall can be utilized as a sports- or amusement one, when all the chairs and the like movable attributes have been carried into an idle space below the stage, so as to leave in the hall a broad unobstructed flat floor.
For this purpose, a number of parallel rail pairs are laid below the stage and the same number of the above kind of carriages are provided for carrying away the chairs and the like thereon and into the under-stage, otherwise idle space, together with the carriages. On the railless floor, these carriages run with the rubber tyres. For reuse of the hall for lecture service, the carriages are manually drawn out together with the loaded chairs onto the railless floor, for unloading and resetting them on the floor again. These chairs are also of the collapsible type.
In this wheeled carriage, all the wheels are so-to-speak journalled, although normally antifriction bearings are provided between the wheel and its axle, and thus these wheels are not polstered of swivelled relative to the carriage proper. Therefore, the carriage can run only on a straight line. However, it would be highly convenient if the carriage can run laterally on the railless floor.